Suspect said to boast, ‘I’m a serial rapist’

Share via e-mail

Tikee Beverly pleaded not guilty to charges he raped five women in a monthlong streak of violence.

He selected his victims randomly, authorities say, but targeted the vulnerable: the unemployed woman desperate for work, the woman recovering from a broken leg. He allegedly used charm to get close to them, before transforming into a vicious sexual predator who ignored their pleas for mercy.

Tikee Beverly, a 37-year-old Roxbury man, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court to 13 charges, including eight counts of rape, in the rapes of five women during a streak of sexual violence that began last Sept. 13 and ended only when he was arrested Feb. 4 after he allegedly raped two women in the previous two days.

In court, Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Patrick Devlin alleged that Beverly committed “a series of vile, sick, and morally reprehensible rapes by a true serial rapist.’’ He said that one victim described the change in his demeanor from gentle to horrific.

“It was a true Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation,’’ Devlin said, quoting one of Beverly’s alleged victims. “He would get these women’s guards down ­before he would abduct them by putting his arm around their neck or putting a gun in their back.’’

Devlin also told Magistrate Gary D. Wilson that he was not the only person to call Beverly a serial rapist. After his arrest, Boston police searched Beverly’s apartment and discovered he kept a journal. One entry ­included a single, boastful, sentence, Devlin said.

“Damn. I am a serial rapist!!!’’ Beverly wrote, according to Devlin.

Devlin said Beverly served about 10 years in federal prison for bank robberies in the ­Boston area before he was released and placed on federal probation on May 14, 2011. Prosecutors say Beverly was on federal probation when he committed the five sexual assaults investigators have so far connected to him through forensics, surveillance videos, and statements of the victims.

$1m bail

Devlin said investigators fear that more women were victimized and are trying to track Beverly’s actions from his ­release from prison until the first alleged rape on Sept. 13.

In court, Devlin said that more than forensic evidence links Beverly to the crimes. In each assault, he said, the rapist operated the same way. He would chat with the victim, disarm her so he could get close enough to put his arm around her neck, and then force her ­into a nearby abandoned building where he would rape her.

Devlin said one woman, who was hobbled by a broken leg, begged Beverly not to rape her, a plea he responded to by threatening to kill her.

“The manner in which he raped this victims was nearly identical,’’ he said, adding that the victims also had similar profiles in that they were all in their 40s.

Defense lawyer Carleton Williams told Wilson that ­Devlin was arguing for a high bail based, in part, on charges that have not been filed against his client and urged Wilson to keep bail at $50,000 cash set when Beverly was first arrested.

But Wilson said the description of the alleged crimes warranted the high cash bail of $1 million. “It’s quite clear the facts and the circumstances shock the conscience of an individual,” he said.

The office of District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said the ­attacks occurred Sept. 13, on Shirley Street in Dorchester; Dec. 27 on Kenilworth Street in Roxbury; Jan. 11 on Arcadia Park in Dorchester; Feb. 2 on Washington Street in Jamaica Plain; and Feb. 3 at the same ­Jamaica Plain location.

According to prosecutors, none of the women knew Beverly, nor were they acquainted with each other. The women quickly reported the assaults to authorities, prosecutors said.

John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jrebosglobe.

BostonGlobe.com complimentary digital access has been provided to you, without a subscription, for free starting today and ending in 14 days. After the free trial period, your free BostonGlobe.com digital access will stop immediately unless you sign up for BostonGlobe.com digital subscription. Current print and digital subscribers are not eligible for the free trial.

Thanks & Welcome to Globe.com

You now have unlimited access for the next two weeks.

BostonGlobe.com complimentary digital access has been provided to you, without a subscription, for free starting today and ending in 14 days. After the free trial period, your free BostonGlobe.com digital access will stop immediately unless you sign up for BostonGlobe.com digital subscription. Current print and digital subscribers are not eligible for the free trial.